Sprague files elections complaint on Campbell in sheriff race

Campbell denies allegations he lied about education, military rank

Oct. 15, 2012

Lisa Sprague

Written by

Arek Sarkissian II

Florida Capital Bureau

Sheriff Larry Campbell

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Leon County Sheriff candidate Lisa Sprague has filed a complaint with the state Elections Commission against incumbent Sheriff Larry Campbell, alleging he’s lied about his education and military background.

Campbell, a Democrat, denied the allegations, saying that his five decades in law enforcement included several extensive federal and background investigations that verified his experience.

“At this point, there have been so many allegations made about me from the very first day,” Campbell said. “I’ve had more background checks done and have more security clearances than most people I know.”

A copy of the confidential elections complaint Sprague provided to the Democrat charges Campbell lied in press releases about completing two majors for his bachelor’s degree from Florida State University. It also said Campbell has stated he was discharged from the U.S. Marine Corps as a sergeant when documents from the National Archives state he was a corporal. That letter was dated Sept. 21.

Elections Commission rules require that Campbell receive the complaint in five working days and he will then have 14 days to respond. The commission then will begin to determine if the complaint was legally sufficient. If so, Campbell will be notified of the finding by letter. Elections complaints are secret until there’s a finding of probable cause.

Sprague, who is running with no party affiliation, said she had heard about the allegations against Campbell more than a month ago.

“For me, it’s really a matter of integrity,” Sprague said. “It’s what to expect from your law enforcement.”

Campbell said he entered the Marines reserves in 1959 and moved up the ranks to an E4 sergeant shortly before the structure of ranks were changed, making that level a corporal.

Capt. Richard Ulsh, a spokesman for the Marines, said the rank change Campbell referred to was made in 1958 for those in active duty, but it was unknown if it also affected reservists.

“I don’t know where that played in with the rank,” Ulsh said last week.

On Monday, Ulsh said a request for records by the Democrat would be completed in about a week.

Sprague’s complaint also claimed that Campbell’s campaign websites say that he majored in criminology and abnormal psychology at FSU, but his degree only says he majored in social welfare. Campbell said he was just short of credit hours needed toward the abnormal psychology major but the amount sufficed as a minor. He also said that Sprague, who owns a private investigation firm and was the deputy chief of FSU police, should understand the stringent background checks officers go through during a career.

Officials with FSU confirmed Campbell holds a bachelor’s degree in social welfare, a degree that’s now known as criminology.

“She should know that there isn’t much out there that the (Florida Department of Law Enforcement) or the FBI or any of those guys haven’t looked into and under and all around,” Campbell said. “This is just more of the same from day one.”